Abhann Productions presents Riverdance 30: The New Generation at the Boch Center Wang Theatre, April 8-13, 2025.
Under the loving and expert guidance of husband-and-wife production team John McColgan and Moya Doherty, a seven-minute dance number at the Eurovision Song Contest 1994 featuring Irish dance champions Jean Butler and Michael Flatley has blossomed into a full production – Riverdance – that opened in Dublin in 1995 to great popular acclaim. The high-stepping, highly successful, hit show has since been performed over 15,000 times in 49 countries and six continents, enchanting and entertaining 30 million audience members worldwide. Riverdance celebrates its 30th year milestone with a special anniversary tour in 35 major cities across the US, including an 8-show run in Boston from April 8 – 13.
Riverdance 30: The New Generation Tour is not your grandparents’ Riverdance. It is a reinvented and reinvigorated version with new choreography, new costumes, state-of-the-art lighting, projections, and motion graphics. The “new generation” also refers to the cast, as this production welcomes performers who were not born when the show made its debut 30 years ago.
The iconic Boch Center Wang Theatre – with one of the largest stages in the country, a house that seats 3600, and historically and architecturally magnificent – is a fitting venue for this global cultural phenomenon. Prepare to be dazzled by the diversity and depth of talent – dancers include the Irish Dance Troupe (36 strong), a Flamenco Soloist, Dervish Folk Dance Troupe, and a pair of Tappers, musicians play drums, fiddle, saxophone, bodhrán, and Uilleann pipes, and performers sing and narrate poetry.
Riverdance 30: The New Generation is a cause for celebration. It succeeds in blending the new and old, in creating innovative approaches while respecting one’s roots. This production incorporates cutting-edge visuals that transport audience members through sunny and stormy skies, fiery infernos, mountainous landscapes, and dense forests, from the Heartlands of Ireland to the streets of Brooklyn. At times, the juxtaposition of larger-than-life high-res projections with the live performers on stage felt at odds with each other. But overall, the use of sophisticated technologies made the dancers’ impressive stamina, physical and mental agility, and the power and beauty of the human body and spirit stand out even more. For tickets and information, go to: https://www.bochcenter.org/events/detail/riverdance
